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Friday, April 19, 2013

Today I want to talk about GMOs. They seem to be everywhere these days and there are quite a few misconceptions out there. There are also important decisions being made right now concerning GMOs and our food and we can make a difference so it's important we're all knowledgable about GMOs.

What's a GMO?

I’m sure many of you know this, but lets cover the
basics. GMO stands for genetically
modified organism. GMOs are created by
gene splicing which is also known as genetic engineering. This can happen with both plants and
animals. From the Non-GMO Project:

In other words, this isn’t combining breeds or crop
selection. GMOs could never naturally
occur.

The Problems with GMOs

More than 60 countries have banned or heavily restrict GMOs, but
not the US and Canada. Why are so many
countries hesitant to embrace this technology?
GMOs negatively effect the environment and small farmers. In the limited studies that have been done,
there have also been disturbing health implications.

Lets start with the environment. Many of the GMO crops have been altered to
contain herbicides or have herbicide or pesticide resistance. These plants are now creating weeds that are resistant
to the large amounts of chemicals used on the GMO crops. This goes for bugs too. GMOs have created “super” weeds and bugs in
the same way overuse of antibiotics have created super bugs resistant to even
the strongest drugs.

GMOs are also terrible for our farmers. This whole subject is worthy of its own blog
post but for the sake of today, lets briefly discuss GMO’s effect on
farmers. GMO seeds are highly controlled and considered patented property. Even
if farmers steer clear of GMO seeds, they have to deal with cross pollination
and patent infringement. Non of this
is good for small business.

And of course there are the health repercussions. Even if the other aspects of GMOs don’t
bother you, this should get your attention.
In the limited studies that have been done on animals, GMOs have had
alarming effects. Liver and kidney
enlargement and toxicity, pre-cancerous growth, cellular changes in babies,
stomach lesions and changes to gut bacteria have all occurred in these
studies.

This stuff is scary!
While many are calling for more research, I don’t need it. There have been no benefits to GMO use and
the drawbacks are plenty!

Avoiding GMOs

So how do you avoid GMOs? There is a lot of information out
today concerning GMOs and what is and isn’t safe. The truth is, there are relatively few GMO
crops that are being commercially produced today. Unfortunately, there are tons of GMO crops
(and a couple animals) that have been developed and could potentially be
produced. Today, despite the short list of GMO crops, it’s important to know
that GMOs make up the majority of each crop.
So if your buying soy beans for instance, you’ve got a 95% chance that
it's GMO (unless it's organic). For the items listed below, I
make sure to buy organic or avoid it if I can’t.

GMOs currently on the market:

Soy

Corn

Sugar beets

Canola

Papaya
Cotton

Zucchini and yellow squash

Alfalfa

Other crops that could be contaminated, either from cross-pollination
or potential approval for commercial production are considered “monitored
crops.” These include:

Chard

Table beets

Rutabaga

Kale

Bok
choy

Mizuna

Chinese
cabbage

Turnip

Rapini

Tatsoi

Acorn
squash

Delicata
squash

Patty
pan

Flax

Rice

But I Thought _____
was GMO Too?

You may have heard that tomatoes, potatoes, pigs, rice etc.
are GMO. As of today, they aren’t in
commercial production. Both tomatoes and
potatoes were developed but both failed and were withdrawn from the market
years ago. Golden rice is currently
being tested in Asia but not available here or on any commercial market.
Oh, and the pigs did exist but the research project was shut down. These days we need to worry about the
genetically engineered salmon that is currently being reviewed by the FDA. For more information on that, check out both
the ocean conservatory and the center for food safety.

Packaged Foods and
the Organic Problem

If you buy packaged foods (and who doesn’t buy even a few
things), avoiding GMOs becomes more difficult.
Besides looking for the ingredients listed above, you’ve also got to
watch out for a whole other list of sneaky ingredients made from those GMO
crops. Below is a list of ingredients to avoid unless they are specified
organic (and clearly some of these we never need to ingest!).

Amino
Acids

Aspartame

Ascorbic
Acid

Sodium
Ascorbate

Vitamin
C

Citric
Acid

Sodium
Citrate

Ethanol

Flavorings
(“natural” and “artificial”)

High-Fructose
Corn Syrup

Hydrolyzed
Vegetable Protein

Lactic
Acid

Maltodextrins

Molasses

Monosodium
Glutamate

Sucrose

Textured
Vegetable Protein (TVP)

Xanthan
Gum

Vitamins

Yeast
Products

Now lets talk about that tricky organic labeling on packaged
products. Did you know not all of the
ingredients must be organic? Unless the
product specifies 100% organic, it can contain up to 5% of non-organic ingredients. This may not be a lot, but it’s enough to let
GMOs into your food that sports that organic label.

So if you’re buying packaged products that don’t specify
100% organic, make sure you read the ingredient label. All organic ingredients will be specified and
you can determine of the non-organic ingredients are clear from the GMO
list. You can also look for any product
(organic or not) that has been labeled with the Non-GMO Project’s seal. They have independently tested the products and certified they are GMO free.

For More Information
You can check out these sites for
reliable GMO information:

Friday, April 12, 2013

Can I just say how much I love local farms? We just visited two different farms
and picked strawberries, blueberries and peaches. We also got to hold a baby lamb, chat with
the farmers and teach the kids first hand where honey comes from. All while soaking in the beautiful weather
we’ve been having.

Besides the produce being much less expensive than in the
store, we got to show the kids where our food comes from. Oh, and support our local farmers! I absolutely love this time of year in Florida!

I probably got a little caught up in the start of peach
and blueberry season here because we picked an enormous amount of both. Luckily, both freeze well and we love to use
them in smoothies.

Peach smoothies have always been one of my favorites. Unfortunately, everyone likes to add bananas
as a filler and ruin that wonderful peachy flavor. I love bananas but not in every smoothie ever
made!

This smoothie was sucked down in no time- I think it might
be a record over here (and that’s saying something). It’s sweet and creamy and both kids were
asking for more!

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

So there's going to be a new member of the Spinach family. We're all really excited! Dakota's hoping for a little sister and Aidric is hoping for a little brother. Unfortunately, someone is going to end up disappointed.

Now that I'm finally out of the first trimester and feeling better, I look forward to sharing some of my pregnancy nutrition and dietary changes. I can tell you so far, I have felt far better than I did with my first two pregnancies when I was eating a SAD diet.

Oh and guess what else? The Air Force has decided it's time for us to move again so we're head across the country. Our family will be packing up next month and making a giant road trip to California. I've got mixed emotions about the move. I'm excited because we'll be living in Northern California, a great place to be for outdoor activities and eating local. But we'll be leaving all of my extended family and that will be really hard on the kids.

Overall though, we've got some exciting months ahead. I hope you'll join us on all of our new adventures!

Monday, April 1, 2013

We've been using a ton of coconut milk lately. It's become both Andy and I's favorite milk for coffee since it's so thick and creamy. I also use it for some of my yummy baking goods. Andy likes to use about half a can in a giant cup of coffee so it can go pretty quickly.

This can get expensive. I normally order our coconut milk online and it's much more reasonable, but at over $2 a can it adds up to a pricey homemade cup of coffee.

I attempted to make coconut milk a couple months ago and made the mistake of not soaking it before hand. It came out a disappointing watery, chunky mess. Now I've learned that the soaking is key.

This milk is fantastic and tastes so much better that the canned stuff. I love how fresh the coconut flavor is. And best of all, I'm avoiding the plastic can lining and additives, all for a lower cost!

Homemade Coconut Milk

1 cup unsweetened raw coconut shreds
2 cups filtered water

Soak coconut in water for 2-3 hours.

Pour water and coconut into blender and blend on high for 1-2 minutes. A high speed blender will work best for this.
Strain milk through a nut milk bag.